And a blessing-filled New Year🙏🏼

Hello back to you from Kodiak. Beautiful crescent 🌙 moon this morning. Good question! I sometimes feed during blooming but not much. I don’t fuss too much over it. Rather, I try to emulate their original home which is in tropical jungles - which provides organic year round. Make sense?

Ah fun. Kodiak Island, Alaska is just a little due north of Hawaii 🥰

And very berry happy New Year. 🎊

Thank you, and may your 2025 be filled with blessings.

Yup, literally cool. Gotta respect what plants can do. 🤣

… and to a joy-filled New Year. 😊❤️

Thank you, Sharon. Here’s to happy gardening in 2025 and beyond 🦋🪴❤️

Thank you, Deidre. Be healthy and happy.

And a wheelbarrow of blessings to you❤️

Merry Christmas 🎄 with blessings of ever-new joy ❤️🙏🏼❤️

You are most welcome and yes, it’s the real deal. It’s a lesson and I learned a long time ago so I’m sharing it with you. Have a great rest of your week.😊

With wheelbarrows overflowing with ever-new joy (and compost!) ❤️😊🙏🏼

Thank you Kassidy. And happy gardening in 2025. 🌱🌱🌱

And happy gardening in 2025!!!

You mean to water it or_____? Just curious… I’ve never been asked that one 😊

I’m excited for you, too. Since growing Amaryllis flowers I’ve come to really appreciate them. Now my collection pretty much blooms when they want which is most of the year!

​@@TheUpBeetGardener Oh no! I put the dirt in the pot and it never has broken up. I think the dirt is no good.

@@girlygirlwoman Can you give me a little more info? Not sure what you mean by putting the dirt in the pot and it has never broken up. It would help me understand...

Thanks, I learn something new every day. I have an Easter cactus with rounded tips. The plant is doing really well, but after a couple years, I still don’t have blooms.

Hi, from the very person in the video. To make this video, I set up my phone on a tripod, and then kneeled next to one of my raised beds in Kodiak Alaska. Home to coastal brown bears, eagles,🦅 and whales that pass by next to my seaside garden. The secret is to to grow healthy seedlings, in soil that is rich and well draining. Onions are big feeders, and root growth is extremely important, actually for all plants. Here in Kodiak, because we’re a high latitude location, we grow long day on onions. During the summer, it begins to get light at 3 AM, and doesn’t really get dark until 1 AM. So onions have a lot of light. If I bury the seedling too deep, all I end up with are onions that look like leeks, no bulbs, just a little white and big tops. Does that make sense?

I turn it often so there’s little to no smell. And I’ve found it’s important to have lots of leaves to fluff up the food scraps so they do t get slimey and stinky. 😊👍

Tell your grandma I love her!!!

Yes, watering from the bottom is best for mature plants; at the top for seedlings 🌱, cuttings and other young plants. As for your urine, by the time you dilute it, the meds aren’t an issue. 😊

Merry Christmas 🎄 Rebecca! ❤️🙏🏼🦋

Hi... it's Marion and I finally found the video I wanted to share with you so you can be confident when you transplant your special Christmas cactus plants. Here is the link which describes the process. I hope it helps. Merry Christmas! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rmeveIt-bbKXgtksi=dFAvrVuQFY4Q8gjw

From my garden and home in Kodiak, Alaska... I hope it was helpful.

If the seaweed is finely shredded (thanks to nature's Cuisinart!), I add it directly to the garden. But I also compost it, too. Where I do NOT add it directly is in the hoophouse/high tunnel. That's because I don't remove the plastic cover every winter. And so, the salts from the seaweed would build up over time. And yes, all seaweeds are useable... but the bigger fronds (leaves) can take longer to break down. Does that help?

Thank you! I really want to visit the gardens in Edinburgh, which, by the way, is nearly the same latitude as Kodiak, Alaska where I live. Do you have a garden by the sea, or at least access to seaweed?

Agree! It's tough, yes, with a strong, continuous lobbying effort from chemical companies. In addition to this channel, I write a weekly garden column. For almost 30 years now, and I'm sure my readers tire of me preaching organic. But it doesn't bother me. Keep up the good work!

@@TheUpBeetGardener I"l never tire of your wisdom. It's much appreciated

Oh, my... yes! I wish I'd known about how important pH was when I first started gardening some 40 years ago. I would have saved a lot of time trying to figure out which plants needed what. We're so sucked in to N P and K that pH is often overlooked. Have a one-derful week! 😊

You are MOST welcome 🙏🏼. My highest goal is to be of service. 😊

Oh… I just try to give them what they need. Call me a humble servant of plants 🤣

Warm greetings from Kodiak, Alaska. Good question! I’d say good quality indoor potting soil, without Miracle Gro, and add perlite only if it needs more drainage. Remember, they’re not cactus, they’re original home is the tropics and so prefer good, moist soil -but not soggy. Make sense?

Thank you, Laurie and warm greetings from Kodiak, Alaska. ❤️🙏🏼❤️

You have a point- always something to learn. Hugs from Kodiak, Alaska 🥰

I hope it helps. Holler if you have questions 😎

Perhaps ☺️

You’re probably correct. I’m using the general term, Christmas. I learn new things every day. Thank you… I have an Easter cactus, started from cuttings; doing great but no blooms yet. I remain hopeful!

Thank you, it is pretty amazing to be living by the ocean and gardening here. Just this morning, the day before Thanksgiving, three orcas surfaced in front of our house.

@ now now young lady… you don’t have to brag… hahahaha just kidding. That is incredible

Keep the soil moist but not soggy. You want to encourage root growth, but not rot. Have fun and good luck. And don’t worry about being new at all this. At some point, we’re all new at all this!

You are most welcome! I’m glad it’s helpful. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions, comments, or request for topics that you’d like me to cover in a video. Meanwhile, happy Thanksgiving.

Not sure how I came up with that, but it’s fun and feels good saying it 😊

Yes He did!

Close but not quite 🥰

Hi Nancy... I use my urine, and my husband's. He thinks it's cool to "help." As for e-coli, I think it would be just fine since ecoli can be found in soil. What color Christmas cactus blooms do you have?

@@TheUpBeetGardener I have two regular Christmas cactus of the deep pink color. They are old and I have a harder time getting them to bloom. I just moved one to a room with no lights on. It was close to a big grow light planter so that wasn't good. They both have really healthy leaves. The other two are Thanksgiving variety and look a lot like yours. They are blooming nicely now. I notice though that the small buds that haven't matured or opened are starting to fall off. That happens every year. I can't figure out why. I don't move them. Maybe they are too wet? But they have lots of mature flowers blooming so I guess it is ok.

Yuppers, you got it.